Carlin
A masculine name of Celtic origin meaning "little champion" or "little man".
Name Census estimates that about 3,905 living Americans carry the first name Carlin. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 57.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Carlin today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carlin births was 1998 (107 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carlin. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Carlin with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Carlin sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
3.9K
~ 1 in 87,773 Americans
Peak year
1998
107 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,885
Tracked since 1905
Census
Carlin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,659 people with the first name Carlin, which placed it at #4,892 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#4,892
National first-name rank
People counted
3.7K
3,659 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carlin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlin is White at 67.3%. The next largest groups are Black (16.9%) and Hispanic (6.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Carlin described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Carlin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.3% · 2,462
- Black or African American16.9% · 619
- Hispanic or Latino6.3% · 232
- Two or more races4.3% · 156
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 140
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 50
Gender
Gender distribution for Carlin
Carlin is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 4,535 total registrations, 2,613 (57.6%) were male and 1,922 (42.4%) were female.
Carlin as a male name
- Ranked #6,885 in 2024
- 12 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1992 (62 births)
Carlin as a female name
- Ranked #7,641 in 2024
- 14 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1998 (51 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Carlin on both sides of the split. Of the 3,660 people counted with this name, 1,880 were male (51.4%) and 1,780 were female (48.6%).
Popularity
Carlin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carlin from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 901 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carlin by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Carlin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carlins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Carlin, while North Carolina, Virginia, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carlin
The name Carlin has its roots in the Old English language and can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, which lasted from the 5th to the 11th century AD. It is believed to have originated from the Old English word "ceorl," which referred to a freeman or a peasant farmer.
The name Carlin is thought to have been initially used as a surname, referring to individuals who were of peasant or working-class origin. Over time, it transitioned into being used as a given name, particularly in English-speaking regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Carlin can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation in England, commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This document mentions several individuals with the surname "Carlin" or similar spellings, indicating the name's usage during the Norman period.
In the Middle Ages, the name Carlin was relatively uncommon, but it gained more popularity during the Renaissance period. One notable individual with this name was Carlin Petersen (1480-1542), a Danish theologian and scholar who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation in Denmark.
Another prominent figure with the name Carlin was Carlin Nilsson Stjerneman (1598-1677), a Swedish military officer and governor of the Swedish province of Ingria (now part of Russia). He was known for his leadership during the Ingrian War between Sweden and Russia in the mid-17th century.
In the 18th century, Carlin Lossius (1723-1800) was a German philosopher and mathematician who made significant contributions to the field of logic and metaphysics. He was a professor at the University of Göttingen and was highly regarded for his academic work.
In the world of literature, Carlin Stubborn (1815-1882) was an American writer and poet who gained recognition for her descriptive and evocative poetry about nature and the American frontier. Her works captured the essence of life in the Western United States during the 19th century.
More recently, Carlin Quaye (1945-2010) was a Ghanaian musician and songwriter who played a pivotal role in the development of the highlife genre, a fusion of traditional Ghanaian music with Western influences. He was widely acclaimed for his innovative style and his contributions to the music scene in Ghana.
While the name Carlin has its origins in Old English and has been used across various cultures and time periods, it remains a relatively uncommon given name in modern times. However, its historical significance and varied associations make it a unique and intriguing choice for those interested in names with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Carlin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carlin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Carlin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carlin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,905 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carlin going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 87,773 US residents.
Is Carlin a common name?
We classify Carlin as "Rare". It ranks above 95.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,535 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carlin most popular?
The single biggest year for Carlin was 1998, when 107 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carlin is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carlin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,659 people with the name Carlin, or 1.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,892 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Carlin in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Carlin?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Carlin on both sides of the split. Of the 3,660 people counted with this name, 1,880 were male (51.4%) and 1,780 were female (48.6%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Carlin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carlin is White at 67.3%. The next largest groups are Black (16.9%) and Hispanic (6.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Carlin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Carlin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.3% (2,462 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Carlin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carlin a male name?
Yes, 57.6% of people registered as Carlin in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Carlin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carlin in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Carlin can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Carlin?
Find out how many Americans are named Carlin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.